Nicki Minaj Played Letterman, Is Already Getting the Critics All Hot and Bothered

We’ll have more on Ms. Minaj when her album officially drops next week, but she’s already begun to cause a bit of a stir, even during a fortnight that belongs quite squarely to her friend and frequent collaborator Kanye West. The gist of the conversation thus far has been about how her full-length doesn’t exactly fulfill the promise of her many guest spots and mixtape tracks, instead doing something completely different and, frankly, much more suitable for mass consumption. I’ve only listened once so far, but something about the production is striking me as chintzy, and I find myself disappointed that she simply doesn’t seem to be doing much of what she does best, which is rapping like an absolute fucking maniac, the way she does on “Monster,” where she blows everyone—Jay, Kanye, Rick Ross—out of the water. This conversation isn’t likely to end any time soon, so buckle up and enjoy.